Ohio State attack: Police identify suspect as business student

The Columbus Dispatch

Monday

Nov 28, 2016 at 4:49 PMNov 28, 2016 at 4:49 PM

Local law-enforcement officers have confirmed the name of a man who they say injured as many as 11 people on the Ohio State University campus this morning by running a car into a group of people, then slashing others with a butcher knife.

Less than a minute after the attack, an OSU police officer shot and killed the man.

The suspect has been identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, who was a Logistics Management major in the College of Business at Ohio State. Records show he lived on the West Side of Columbus. Records also show that he graduated with honors, with an associate’s degree, from Columbus State Community College in May before transferring this semester to Ohio State.

Police said the officer who shot and killed Artan is Ohio State Police Officer Alan Horujko, 28, who has been with the police department since January 2015. He wasn’t injured.

Neighbors in the Havenwood Townhome complex on the West Side said police and the sheriff’s office bomb squad have been searching an apartment there since shortly before 11 am., not long after the situation on campus occurred.

Despite rumors of a second suspect, police and campus officials say there was one person involved in the attack.

The attack happened outside of Watts Hall, the university’s materials science and engineering building. Earlier in the morning, the building had been evacuated because of a report of a gas leak. It’s unclear if that was related to the attack or if that’s why people were outside at the time of the attack.

OSU President Michael Drake said training by university personnel kept things from being worse.

“We live in an unstable world unfortunately,” he said.

Drake and others spoke outside Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center.

Wexner Medical Center treated five patients: two were stabbed, two were hit by the car and one who hid after the attack and just arrived. The last victim’s injuries were being assessed.

Two victims with lacerations were taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. Two victims who were struck by the car were taken to OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.

The attack happened at 9:52 a.m. An “active shooter” alert was sent at 9:55 to the campus community urging people to hid in place.

At 11:30 a.m., the university said the scene is secure and that all classes are canceled on campus. The shelter-in-place order was lifted at 11:14 a.m., but more than a dozen buildings remain closed.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Jefferson Township, who had spoken to OSU president Michael Drake, reported that a car drove into a crowd and most of those affected appeared to have stab wounds.

“The university appear to be secure now, the students appear to be safe,” said. “What we don’t know is what was the motive,” she said.

Columbus Police, Ohio State police and deputies with the Franklin County sheriff’s deputies rushed to the scene. Students took to social media to find information, and posted video and pictures to Twitter of the scene.

Police were searching the area, and there was intense police and SWAT activity at a garage on campus. Officers with long guns and two armored vehicles were seen there before the threat was lifted.

Mike O’Connell, a senior from Dublin, said he did not hear shots, but got the alerts.

“I just had a class over here an hour ago,” he said. “This is insane. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Another student said she was in a business class when she received the emergency alert. She said she could see people running outside.

“We’re just staying safe, making sure everyone else is safe,” the sophomore said.

Peter Anderson, chairman of the department of materials science and engineering, said he arrived at Watts Hall after the attack was over.

He said students told him that someone called in a fluorine leak in the building, which has lab facilities. As required during emergencies, the students congregated in the courtyard outside the building.

He said the attacker drove a car into the courtyard. “It’s where we hold our ice cream socials and when something like this happens,”Anderson said.

One victim was struck so hard that their body flew into the air and landed on a hard surface.

“It sounds very fortunate that based on what I heard if this is not a life-threatening injury,” Anderson said.

Anderson said one of his colleagues, professor emeritus William Clark, was slashed in his lower leg by an attacker.

Facebook released a Safety Check feature for the incident, allowing people in the area to mark themselves as unharmed.

Check Dispatch.com for more information as it becomes available.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.